day 9: work work fashion baby

With Christmas just a turn away, I had to leave my cocoon and go Christmas shopping. Even though I still look like I'm partaking in a never ending round of Chubby Bunny.

WHAT'S UP, YELLOW NECK?
(i didn't actually go out with the sunglasses.
i know i'm not a superstar :D)

So I graced Orchard Road with my high fashion ensemble. The pièce de résistance? Why my purple surgical face mask, of course! My attempt to shield the world from my face and vice versa totally kind of backfired though. I ended up being short of breath from the combination of all that walking after a week of total inactivity and breathing behind my face mask. I was so grouchy at the end of the day that I bought a cup of mashed potatoes and strawberry cheesecake ben & jerry's ice cream from 7/11 before I made my way home. You know, as a treat.

Really though, cheap mashed potatoes are the bomb. You know how fancy mashed potatoes have all those delicious chunky bits of potato and butter and bacon bits or whatever? Yeah well we can't have any of that good stuff right now so cheap, watery mashed potatoes are just the easiest to ingest. And they're yummy!!! To me at least since I'm not much of a food connoisseur.

I went out again yesterday sans face mask and it wasn't half bad! I could breathe properly for one. I did consciously try to avoid looking into mirrors because I'm still not used to my face just yet :\

Observations from Day 9:

• Pain: I really don't feel very much pain per se anymore except for the constant tightness in my (excuse this) snout area. Heh. But really the most of the soreness and tightness is concentrated in the middle of my face like my nose, the cheek area flanking my nose and my philtrum. Phillltrum. I finally googled the proper medical term for 'area above lip'. Philtrum. Learn something new every day don't we? :D
  
  I am feeling a bit of discomfort in my bottom right canine (way to be precise) because of the positions of my rubberbands and how they pull but I'm pretty sure I can deal with it. Cha.
  
  
• Numbness: I think I've been really lucky with this whole numbness thing. I've read stories from other jawsurg patients that have felt numbness even after a year post-op. But I think I've regained almost 100% of the feeling in my face! The chin area was set to be the most challenging but I can feel my entire chin no problem, though it's extra delicate now. I have a delicate chin. G that sounds so prissy. But I feel pretty blessed in this respect. My nose, cheeks and lips are definitely very tingly (As my doctor puts it - "it's like getting pins and needles right?") but I can feel them I can feel them. Scratching itches on my face still feels awfully unsatisfactory though.
  
  
• Swelling: Still chubs kebubs. Slowly but surely deflating every day!
  
  
• Food: I've moved on to mush! The liquid to mush transation happened so much faster than I thought it would (I mean, seriously? I'm only 9 days post-op! WOOO!!!) and I'm seriously super grateful for it. I've been eating blended porridge and mashed potatoes for pretty much every meal. Like I mentioned previously, my surgeons gave the okay for mushy log cake (YAY! Never thought I'd yay that, but YAY!) and pretty much whatever I can mush up without having to use too much strength from my teeth.
  
  SAY WHUURRT? THE POSSIBILITIES ARE ENDLESS MY SIEGE!!! Let's see what I can come up with during this cruel holiday season filled with food. Yum.
  
  (Side note: I still look like a total trainwreck when I eat. Food. EVERYWHERE.)
  

I just got back from my post-op daily visit with my surgeons, and next see them a week from today. I can't wait to hit the double digits in post-op days starting tomorrow. Off I go to brainstorm to see what delish holiday food I can mash up......